Handmade Music School and The Floyd Country Store are excited to present the second in a series of Harmonic Heritage CD projects featuring the music of the “Queen of Old Time,” Rhoda Kemp. We celebrated with Rhoda and Friends for a CD Release Party on March 1st at the Floyd Country Store, and we are so excited to share this wonderful CD with everyone!
CDs are now available at The Floyd Country Store for a donation of $10, and we will have a digital download available soon. Proceeds go to Handmade Music School.
Rhoda Kemp has been an important part of the old time music scene in Virginia for the better part of a century. At 95 years old Rhoda Kemp is the Queen of Old Time Music and a very important part of The Floyd Country Store community.
The Rhoda Kemp CD features 10 tracks, captured live at Rhoda’s home and features members of Rhoda’s family and dear friends.
The Handmade Music School was awarded a Community Impact grant from Virginia Commission for the Arts to produce a project called Harmonic Heritage: Recording Southwest Virginia’s Living Musical Traditions.
This recording project aims to preserves the voices of elders singing traditional Appalachian music in Floyd County, Virginia. With an emphasis on old time, bluegrass and early country music from Floyd County and beyond, this project aims to put the elders of a nearly-past generation in front of a microphone (and cameras) to enshrine their voices, the songs and stories for musicians, their families, our community and folklorists to hear and study for years to come.
The first in this Harmonic Heritage series featured music from Ross Peacemaker, who has been an important part of The Floyd Country Store for over 40 years. The third CD featuring Mac Traynham is currently in production, stay tune for more info!